On December 6 2017, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice indicating the approval of amendments to Proposition 65’s “clear and reasonable warnings” regulations. OEHHA issued these amendments to clarify and correct certain sections of the significant new regulations going into effect August 30, 2018 that will change how parties in the supply chain for consumer products must warn their customers.

Under the Proposition 65 regulations, a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of a consumer product sold in California must label the product with a clear and reasonable warning if the product contains one or more chemicals identified by OEHHA as causing cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm. Parties in the chain of distribution who fail to provide such warnings may become targets of State enforcement, or private lawsuits for penalties, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees. OEHHA has provided “safe harbor” warning language to be used in labeling.

Continue Reading on Husch Blackwell’s Food & Ag Law Insights.